I'm really proud to talk to you today about the very first game I have created yet that is about to come out on the App Store, that I've named Poker Tower! This game is made from a mix of two popular iOS game types such as Poker and Match-3 games, and the primary goal of the game is to create poker hands! You do such by combining cards shown on the screen on a 4x5 grid by touching them one after the other to make the best score possible!

There's also multiple game modes here for you to have hours and hours of intense fun and to make the game fits your taste, such as :

-Time Attack : In 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 minutes, you must do the best score possible! No Restriction.
-Tower Mode : Each time you score points, a row is added at the bottom of the screen. Don't let the cards reach the top or it's game over!
-Survival Mode : This RPG-like game mode puts you against multiple enemies that deals you damage time after time, and you must survive the longer possible!
-Challenge Mode : With only a deck of 52 regular cards, you must do the best score possible!

The main features of the game are :
-4 game modes (and more to come!!)
-Full statistic screen allow you to check every stats the game register about your progress!
-Help screen helping you to understand the basics of the game
-Game Center Integration with Achievements and leaderboards to let you compete against other players
-Big Finger Option : Avoid unwanted touches by activating this function if you have big fingers!

Screenshots :

***I HAVE ALL MY TESTERS NEEDED, THANKS!!***
Selected and Active testers will receive a free copy of the game once released and, if everything goes well, iTunes gift card will be given to best one(s)!

I've finally been able to submit Poker Tower to Apple, and if everything goes fast, I'll release it on february 21, else it will be on february 28! I'll keep you in touch once I'll get news for you!

UPDATE - 02/12/13

I've just uploaded the version 0.98, including those changes :
-New icons, thanks to my girlfriend!
-Credits screen completed with a link to our website
-The cards are now filled horizontally, avoiding big holes at the end of a challenge game
-Tutorial Mode - Added more steps to explain the different hands possible
-Options Screen - You can now reset achievements without reseting the stats
-Options Screen - Reseting stats don't bring you to Main Menu anymore
-Survival Mode - Color hands don't do damage anymore
-Survival Mode - New monsters name!
-Survival Mode - Delay before new monster info is shown, showing the score got from the killed monster
-Survival Mode - Boss system added - Slight chance of all stats doubled
-Tower Mode - No more lag when game over
-Tower Mode - An alert is now shown when a column is full
-New achievement : Cleaner - Clean the screen in Challenge mode!
-Some minor bug fix

UPDATE - 02/02/13

New version 0.90 uploaded today for the Beta testers, including those changes :
-Survival Mode - Showing monsters info don't pause the game anymore
-Survival Mode - Reduced the number of blood particles to avoid FPS drop
-Survival Mode - Some stats tweaking
-Survival Mode - Monsters don't attack in real time anymore, they attack after few hands
-Really simple Tutorial Mode included (Accessible via the Help Screen)
-Speeded up the filling of the table
-Tower mode - Limited the use of colors to avoid infinite play

UPDATE - 01/29/13

Score & Leaderboards mechanism are 100% working now in the game, and when you're not online, it will try to re-upload the scores every time you re-enter the game or try to enter Game Center screen. The game have a total of 10 leaderboards for you to compare scores with the others, including Total Score, Total Time Played, and all game modes high scores. I'll probably add more leaderboards for the other stats later on, this will depend if I judge them useful or not! Achievements to come soon!

And don't forget that beta test subscription are still going on and you can enter by following the link in the first post of this thread!

Score & Leaderboards mechanism are 100% working now in the game, and when you're not online, it will try to re-upload the scores every time you re-enter the game or try to enter Game Center screen. The game have a total of 10 leaderboards for you to compare scores with the others, including Total Score, Total Time Played, and all game modes high scores. I'll probably add more leaderboards for the other stats later on, this will depend if I judge them useful or not! Achievements to come soon!

And don't forget that beta test subscription are still going on and you can enter by following the link in the first post of this thread!

Will these stats be displayed locally as well so I can see my best in all categories even without an online connection?

Will these stats be displayed locally as well so I can see my best in all categories even without an online connection?

Totally! Every stats are stored on the iPhone in a file and when you access the stat screen, 3 pages of stats are loaded from this file (you can see an example of this screen in the screenshots I posted in the first thread) There is currently 32 stats, and surely more to come if the testers give me suggestion!

Totally! Every stats are stored on the iPhone in a file and when you access the stat screen, 3 pages of stats are loaded from this file (you can see an example of this screen in the screenshots I posted in the first thread) There is currently 32 stats, and surely more to come if the testers give me suggestion!

Nice! As GC is limited to just 25 leaderboard per app, I guess the trick will be figuring the most relevant and possibly not use all 25 right off if you want to save space for additional modes or tweaks in the future.

Exactly! In the 32 stats of the game, there's like 12 stats about the combinations made, 3 about ratios (Score/Minutes, Score/Games and Score/Hands) and I don't think that those are not really relevant, that's why I have limited the leaderboards to the 10 most interesting (and competitive) stats that the game register!

Alrighty guys! I've decided to begin earlier the beta test period, since the beta build is ready for it! I've sent you an invitation e-mail for TestFlight, and you should be able now to install and play Poker Tower!!

Have fun, and you can post anything you want on this thread about the game (i.e Comments about the game, what I should improve, etc.!) But I would prefer receiving bug reports through e-mail!

P.S I'm still recruiting beta testers even if the beta test has begun, so don't be shy to subscribe if you haven't yet!!!

Alrighty guys! I've decided to begin earlier the beta test period, since the beta build is ready for it! I've sent you an invitation e-mail for TestFlight, and you should be able now to install and play Poker Tower!!

Have fun, and you can post anything you want on this thread about the game (i.e Comments about the game, what I should improve, etc.!) But I would prefer receiving bug reports through e-mail!

P.S I'm still recruiting beta testers even if the beta test has begun, so don't be shy to subscribe if you haven't yet!!!

Happy gaming!

Just to be clear, you should probably PM the chosen folk the email address you'd like us to send bugs and impressions to.

Draw a line through up to 5 cards to make a poker hand and the cards are removed (at least as I see in the Tower Mode so far). As each hand is scored, the rest of the cards push up from the bottom one space. So on the surface, a bit like Spell Tower but with poker hands. I love how they've even invented some NEW scoreable options to the standard poker rankings. Like a Same Color Straight (not a Straight Flush, but all of the cards are at least the same color) or simply the ability, for very few points, to make a hand of 5 same colored junk for minimal points to score a tiny amount of points (less than even a Pair).

One part not clear yet is how the multipliers work. I think they're earned by making one of the game's higher ranking hands, but am not sure nor do I get how to maintain them once in effect.

On top of this core fun game are all of the game's very fun statistics like average score per hand and other nitty gritty little stats that are just fun to muse over at the end of a game.

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